At the Eagle Seeker Community Center in Billings Thursday, 15-year-old Caydrin Thursday wraps the notch of an arrow and cuts the end under the watchful eye of his instructor.
He and about three dozen other learners are crafting arrows on one side of the gym and baby moccasins on the other. This event, called Tradish Teachings, is the first of its kind through the Billings Urban Indian Health and Wellness Center.
Wellness Center building manager Courtney Bad Bear helped set up the event.
“A lot of the time, you have to go back home to kind of learn a little more about tradition and your culture and stuff like that,” said Bad Bear. “You see a lot of these kinds of events on the reservation. You don’t see very many of them off the reservation. So, I think it was really important for us to make sure that we’re providing resources like this.”
Center director Kenny Smoker is overseeing the crafting as the expert on site.
“What we’re trying to do here is teach people how to make an arrow with the hopes that maybe it’ll spark an interest in doing archery, keep them busy and learn a little bit about their culture,” said Smoker.
The one-day event ran Thursday and comes days before the annual Big Sky Native ECon, a conference presented by the Native American Development Corporation.
The event will include an art auction, a trade show and a series of talks about topics including business and entrepreneurship. It runs August 5 to 7 at the DoubleTree Hotel.
